


Unholy Savior

by the_huffster



Series: Safe in the Dark [2]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Horror, Season 5 AU, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-13 03:14:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13561554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_huffster/pseuds/the_huffster
Summary: Seven months after YellowBrickRoad, the Scoobies are down the road to recovering from the events on the trail. But when things start to get weird for even the Hellmouth, Giles finds himself in the middle of a strange prophecy.





	1. Chapter 1

Sleep had been elusive. Not for the first time, but it had started to become more frequent in the last month. Nightmares and long ignored memories had started up again any time Giles had managed to fall asleep. Of course he would never tell Buffy that; she worried enough about him as it was, he didn’t want to add to it.

He had waited until the sun had just started to rise to go for a run, leaving a note for his Slayer in case she woke up before he was back. A smile came to him as he thought back to their ordeal at YellowBrickRoad. Buffy had been right, there had been a good thing that came from it.

In the seven months since their weekend on that trail, there had been more good moments than he had originally thought there would be. Willow had woken up and, miraculously, suffered minimal damage; it had been an adjustment, but Willow’s ability to control her magic had been slightly hindered, as well as her ability to learn new things- although it just took her a little longer to learn things. It was another two weeks before Willow was discharged from the hospital.

Xander, however, had been another story. It had been a whole month before he was allowed to leave, with therapy sessions twice a week. He had moments when he remembered exactly what he had done, but most of the time he remembered it as someone else attacking his friends. And had it not been for Giles, Buffy, and Willow telling authorities that the attack had been the result of a nervous breakdown, there was no doubt that Xander would have been thrown in jail.

Everyone had been cautious around Xander and Giles, not wanting to set either one of them off into an “episode”. And there had been plenty of those without any of their friends’ help. There had been many times when paranoia had washed over Giles, or when Xander had been set off by a memory and gotten violent. No one held it against them though, and as time went on the “episodes” had gotten less frequent and easier to come down from.

The only other noticeable change was how in tuned Xander seemed to be with the spiritual world, not that he was too thrilled about it. However, his newfound talent had come in handy a few times, but Xander mostly just tried to ignore it. If it weren’t for the fact that Giles was still afraid to be alone with his friend, he would offer some sort of help. So Willow had stepped up and told Xander that she would work with him, but only if he wanted. 

Giles had been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn’t seen the other jogger until he collided with him. He quickly reached out to keep both of them balanced, a nervous smile on his face.

“I’m so sorry. I wasn’t…” he trailed off when the stranger looked at him, reaching out to touch the still healing cut above his left eye.

“It’s begun.” The jogger said, almost giddy. “The son has turned on the Chosen.”

“I’m sorry?” Giles took a step back, his body getting ready for a fight.

Instead of answering, the jogger took a step closer and brought his hand up to rest on Giles’ cheek.

“You will bring forth the new world. The son has attacked you,” the jogger’s hand dropped and he just stared at Giles, grinning from ear to ear. “The prophecy will be fulfilled, and we will follow you.”

Giles narrowed his eyes as he looked at the man, not sure what to say or why he was still listening. He shook his head when the stranger went on again about “the son”.

“You have me mistaken for someone else.” He said before he found the ability to move again.

He pushed pass the jogger and started running again, wanting to put as much distance between them as he could. He racked his brain for some sort of idea as to what the man had been talking about; but of all the prophecies he knew of, nothing came to mind at the man’s words. The only thing that reflected something of what he had just been told was the other day when Xander had attacked him during an episode. It hadn’t lasted long, but it had been enough to cause the younger man to cut the Watcher with a broken piece of glass.

Giles stopped at the end of the trail, trying to catch his breath. He shook his head in an effort to shake off the stranger’s words. Surely there was no true meaning behind them. Although, it wouldn’t hurt to look into it; of course he had no idea what he was even looking into. He leaned against a nearby tree and took a deep breath as he felt a wave of nausea hit him. The deep breaths continued until the wave had passed, something he had always chalked up to pushing him too hard on his runs. However, a few more minutes against the tree wouldn’t hurt him. He just needed to get a grip on himself.

The watcher looked around to make sure no one was around before he slowly sat on the ground, leaning back against the trunk as he closed his eyes.

_His eyes opened at the sound of the door, his jaw clenching when he heard footsteps._

_“The gig’s over.” He stated coldly over his shoulder, not even about to allow the latecomer a look at him._

_“Oh, I know. I heard you from outside,”_

_He turned around to find Thomas standing in the doorway. He had to be honest; of all the people he expected to find him it hadn’t been Thomas. Ripper looked him over and noticed that the young man seemed to have cleaned up somewhat in the half year since he had left everyone. He rolled his eyes and continued doing some last minute cleanup. In exchange for letting his band perform, he had told the club’s owner that he’d do the closing cleanup._

_“You can’t be so surprise I found you,” Thomas said as he took a few steps inside. “It isn’t exactly like you’re hiding. You’re doing gigs at the same place we went to, for Christ’s sake!”_

_“Why are you here, Tom? Did Ethan send you?”_

_“No. Ethan’s gone a bit…he’s gone in a different direction.”_

_Ripper turned around and looked at his friend._

_“Is he okay?” he asked, concern in his voice._

_“I don’t know, but I’m not here to talk about him. I came to talk about you,” Thomas said, not letting him get another word in. “You need to stop pretending, mate.”_

_He narrowed his eyes as he looked at him, not entirely sure what Thomas was talking about. His confusion must have shown because the other man gave a scoff and shook his head._

_“You always were arrogant, Ripper. You want to drag people into the darkness that is your life, but then turn around and play innocent when things turn to shit.”_

_“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Tom.”_

_“I’m talking about Randall. I’m talking about how you introduced that bloody demon in our lives, and then just stood by while it blew up in our faces.”_

_Ripper took a small step back, completely surprised by the accusation. He swallowed and squared his shoulders slightly. He wasn’t about to be given the blame for Randall’s death._

_“If anyone’s to blame for what happened, it’s Ethan. He’s the one who introduced Eyghon to you, not me.”_

_“Oh, please! You showed Ethan knowing full well he’d show us. You both wanted to find a better high, but you wanted none of the blame if things went bad. But let me tell you, Rupert, I know that game and I’m not playing it.” Thomas said as he walked closer. “You knew the signs long before Randall died, but you didn’t do anything.”_

_“I had no idea…”_

_“Yes, you did! You knew Eyghon favored you; he wasn’t exactly shy about it. You and Ethan were his favorites, but you…you were the one he compared all of us to.” Thomas snarled as he got into Ripper’s face. “He had plans for you, Rip. That’s why you could go longer, had more control…and Randall…you knew Randall wanted to be like you. Hell, we all did, but Randall more than us.”_

_Ripper clenched his jaw and stared at his friend._

_“We all let Randall go under when he shouldn’t have.” He said coldly, forcing himself to remain calm. “He hadn’t recovered from the night before, but we still let him…”_

_“You hadn’t recovered either! You were still fucked up when you went under that night!” Thomas snapped as he shoved Ripper into the table behind him. “But you were the one who pushed Randall to go under when he didn’t want to. And you need to start taking responsibility for killing our friend!”_

_Ripper tensed and prepared for a fight, quickly noticing the sudden change in Thomas. He was staring a point over his shoulder, a small expression of confusion and fear on his face. Ripper turned and looked around, quickly turning back when he saw nothing. He was getting ready to laugh at Thomas’ failed distraction when he noticed the other man already halfway to the door._

_“You’re not a good man, Rip. No matter how hard you try.” Thomas said as he paused briefly to look back one more time. “Everyone you get close to is in danger.”_

He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, calming down when he saw it was Buffy. He looked around when he noticed how much hotter it seemed to be.

“You okay?” she asked softly as she helped him up.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, confusion on his face.

“You’ve been gone for hours, Giles. I got worried.”

He was about to ask her what she meant when he looked at his watch.

12:54pm.

Giles shook his head and looked at it again. That couldn’t be right. It had barely been 7:15 when he left that morning. He jumped again when he felt someone touch him.

“Hey, it’s just me.” Buffy said calmly, giving him a reassuring smile. “Do you know what happened?”

“I just took a small break. I…I must have pushed myself too hard and…” he trailed off, his fingers going up to touch the cut above his eye.

“And?”

He dropped his hand and looked at his Slayer. He knew he should tell her about the jogger and his strange message, but a voice in the back of his head told him not to. He didn’t want her to have to worry about him more than she already did.

“And I must have just dozed off. I didn’t get much sleep last night,” he smirked slightly. That wasn’t a complete lie.

Buffy rolled her eyes and looped her arm through his. They started walking towards the start of the trail.

“You’re the one who started things last night.”

They laughed softly as they left the trail, heading towards his apartment. He looked around and saw the jogger from earlier, swallowing nervously. The jogger just looked at him with a grin, his hand resting on his left bicep. The Watcher just shook his head slightly and turned his attention back to his girlfriend, hoping she hadn’t noticed he had stopped listening.

He mentally made a note to look into what the jogger had said the next time he was alone.


	2. Chapter 2

Giles sat in his office in The Magic Box as he rubbed his tired eyes. For the past three hours he had been looking for anything the resembled what the jogger from the morning before had told him. And so far, he hadn’t found anything that gave the words credibility. He knew that he should probably be out in the front in case Anya needed any help with customers, but part of him wanted to look into what this supposed prophecy was. If someone was trying to end the world, then he needed to know all he could so he could help Buffy stop it.

He winced slightly at the small burning on his left bicep. That was also something he needed to look into. Ever since Xander had attacked him, the area around his tattoo would randomly feel as if it was burning. He had no idea if it was a medical problem or something to do with the mark of Eyghon, but once he figured out this “prophecy” issue than he planned to focus on that problem. Although he had a feeling it wasn’t anything to really worry about, just some sort of reaction triggered by the sudden increase of memories he had been having from his days as Ripper.

He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn’t heard the office door open, jumping slightly when he heard his name.

“I thought you weren’t coming by until 2:30?” he asked when he turned around to see Buffy.

“I hate to break it to you, but it is 2:30.” She said with a small smile.

Giles looked at his watch, narrowing his eyes. The last time he had looked at the time, it was only a quarter to noon. He shook his head and gave his girlfriend a smile.

“I suppose that means you’re ready for lunch then?” he chuckled as he stood up, closing the books he had been looking through.

The movement must have caught the Slayer’s attention as Buffy quickly went over to the desk and looked at the books, her eyes going to the paper he had written notes on.

“You expecting an apocalypse?” she asked as she picked up some of the paper.

He quickly reached forward and snatched the paper from her, hoping she hadn’t time to read it yet. Giles shoved the paper under a book and just looked at Buffy, sighing when he saw the shock and hint of hurt in her eyes. He walked over and gave her a reassuring smile, kissing the top of her head.

“It’s nothing, Buffy. I just…it’s been a little too quiet on the Hellmouth lately and I was doing some research.” He explained. He hated lying to her, but there was no reason to worry her if he was sending himself on a wild goose chase.

“You sure it’s nothing? Because if someone’s trying to destroy the world again…”

“I will be the first person to tell you if that’s the case. But right now, there seems to be nothing more going than the usual activity.”

A moment passed before Buffy nodded and gave him a small smile.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“Xander’s been doing better,” Buffy said as they waited for their lunch to arrive.

Giles looked up at the mention of the younger man’s name, a brief wave of panic hitting him. It didn’t last long, and it wasn’t a cause for any alarm.

“Has he?” he asked, taking a sip of his water.

“He still has no idea why he attacked you the other day. But he wants me to tell you he’s sorry. Again.”

He nodded as he subconsciously reached up and lightly rubbed the cut above his eye. When Buffy reached across the table to grab his hand, he looked up at her and gave her a small smile. He knew what she was thinking, and it was completely understandable. It had taken Giles a few months to be able to separate Xander from whatever had possessed him on their camping trip, and he knew that Buffy was worried the recent attack had undone that progress.

“He has nothing to apologize for. We all came out of there different, some of us more than others. What happened the other day is no different than the times when I’ve…had my episodes.” He said softly, looking back at their hands. “Xander and I still have a long way to go as far as recovery is concerned. And there’s no promise that we’ll even be the same men we were before that trail,”

“Well, no matter what you both still have all of us.” Buffy assured him. “We’re a family, and families take care of each other.”

Anything the Watcher was going to say was interrupted by their server bringing their food. He thanked the server and started eating, listening as Buffy started talking about her morning. The conversation wasn’t anything extraordinary; in fact, Giles couldn’t help but enjoy the normalcy of the moment. Being able to talk about simple things and making plans over lunch, it was all so normal. He glanced around the café, his eyes landing on a man.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary with the man. But the way he was staring at Giles and the small quirk at the corner of his mouth, it almost unnerved the Watcher. The stare wasn’t threatening in any sort of the word, but there was something about it that Giles couldn’t put his finger on. It seemed admiring and predatory at the same time.

“You know him?” Buffy’s voice cut through the fog that his thoughts had cast.

“No. I was just…I got distracted.” He said as he looked back at his girlfriend, giving her a small smile.

He inwardly winced when she looked over at the man, both of them catching the slight nod he sent their way before leaving. The Slayer looked back at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Sure seems like he knows you.”

“Maybe he has me confused with someone else.” He dismissed before taking a sip of his water.

Giles went back to eating his lunch, trying to ignore the stare he knew Buffy was giving him. He was sure that she could sense something was off with him. After all, it seemed she was more in-sync with him than she had been but he figured that had more to do with how worried she was about him. Not that he would ever complain- it felt nice knowing that he didn’t have to keep relying on himself to try and keep his sanity.

“Giles, if something was wrong you would tell me right?” she asked softly.

He looked up at her when he heard the concern in her voice, sighing at the look on her face.

“I would.” He promised. “But there’s nothing to tell you, Buffy. It’s just someone who thinks I’m someone else, or someone who was admiring my lovely girlfriend.”

“Flatterer.” She laughed softly. “I know you haven’t been sleeping well and…”

“They’re just dreams; nothing more and definitely not anything to worry about. I’m not even dreaming about that place.” He continued when he saw her expression change. “Memories have decided to resurface in the form of dreams. I’m not worried, and neither should you be.”

She looked at him for a moment before nodding. He knew that she wasn’t entirely convinced, but he was glad that she wasn’t going to push the matter further. Until his dreams took a sinister turn, Giles wasn’t going to involve Buffy in the drama of his past.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_The note had said to meet at a quarter after seven, and while following instructions of unsigned notes wasn’t something he normally did, Ripper found himself sitting at a table in a secluded corner. He looked around the pub for any sign of trouble, making a few escape plans should things escalade. Part of him was expecting to be joined by Ethan or anyone else from the old gang, while another part was expecting a vampire who thought he could pull a fast one over him._

_What he wasn’t expecting, however, was a man in his 40s to take the seat across from him. The man was wearing a nice suit, nicer than anything everyone else in the building was wearing. He braced himself to take off running in case the Council had finally caught up with him._

_“You can relax, Mr. Giles. I’m not here to hurt you.” The man said with a friendly smile._

_“How do you know who I am?”_

_“I’m an acquaintance of Mr. Rayne’s.”_

_A bark of laughter left Ripper at the answer. Now he knew this man was up to something._

_“If you know anything about Ethan, than you’d know he doesn’t have acquaintances, mate.” He smirked as he leaned back in his chair._

_“He does when it concerns you.” At his expression, the man continued. “I’m here to protect you…well, protect is a poor choice of words. I’m here to make sure you survive.”_

_“Survive? What, is the world ending tomorrow?” he chuckled._

_Ripper had no idea why he was still sitting at the table, although the man was fairly entertaining in whatever it was he was trying to accomplish. He just wouldn’t let his guard down until he knew for sure he was in no danger._

_“No, but you’re destined for great things, Mr. Giles. And to ensure that you fulfill your destiny, we need you to survive…whatever this is.” He said as he motioned to Ripper._

_“We?”_

_“My associates and myself,”_

_His jaw clenched and he felt his body tense. He let out a humorless laugh and shook his head._

_“I fucking knew it. This is just some ploy to get me back, isn’t it?” he said darkly, leaning forward. “Listen here, you tell my father and the rest of those bastards that I’m not coming back.”_

_“I assure you, I’m not from the Council. However, we do need you to go back to them.”_

_“If you’re not with the Council then how did you know who I was talking about?”_

_“I know a lot of things, Mr. Giles. Especially about you.”_

_The look in the man’s eyes caught Ripper’s attention. There was almost a sense of pride and admiration in his eyes, and even in his expression. He looked around the pub again, his gut telling him something wasn’t right. The conversation was making no sense, and the man in the suit was clearly off somehow._

_“I promise you, I’m not here to hurt you. I’m just here to let you know that you do have people on your side, Mr. Giles. You have people in the background working very hard to make sure you become the man you’re suppose to be.” The man said, his voice bringing Ripper’s attention back to him. “You have a great destiny before you, and the way to it is through the Council.”_

_“And why should I trust you?” he asked, a movement out of the corner of his eye drawing his attention to a dark corner.  
He squinted in an effort to see if someone was there. But all he saw was two walls meeting in the shadows. And yet, he still felt as if he was being watched._

_“Because I’m here for you, sir. As are my associates,”_

_“And who exactly are you and your associates?_

_“People who have your best interests in mind,”_

_He rolled his eyes. It seemed with every answer, all he got was more confusion. There was movement again and Ripper looked over just in time to see what looked like the shadow shrinking further into the corner. The sound of a chair scraping across the floor brought him back to the man, who was now standing up and smiling down at him._

_“It was a pleasure to meet you, sir. I wish you well in your journey.”_

_Ripper opened his mouth to question him further, but he walked away too fast. He sighed and leaned back into the chair. Just as he was about to stand up as well, he felt something on his shoulder. He looked at his shoulder out of the corner of his eye but saw no hand. And yet, he could feel something right there. He froze where he was, but not in fear. Whatever it was that was touching him was familiar; in fact, it felt almost as if he had come home. And there was just a hint of power and euphoria. It was intoxicating._

_And just as suddenly, it was gone. A small twinge in his left bicep cause him to wince, his eyes looking at the tattoo he had given himself the year before. He shook his head and stood up, quickly leaving the pub._


	3. CHAPTER 3

“This is getting weird.”

Giles looked up at the sound of Buffy’s voice, his brow furrowing at her statement. She had left the apartment for patrol a few hours ago, which wasn’t uncommon given her calling. What did strike him was the lack of any sign of a struggle; she looked exactly the same as she had when she left, with the exception of her hair which he knew was more than likely from her walking.

“Did something happen tonight?” he asked as he stood up and made his way over to her, giving her another glance over to make sure she wasn’t hurt.

“More like something didn’t happen. This is two weeks now, Giles.” She said as she looked at him. “No vamps, no demons, nothing. It’s radio silence across the Hellmouth.”

“Absolutely nothing?”

“It’s a ghost town out there, Giles. Is there anything big being cooked up or something?”

He watched as Buffy walked into the kitchen, going straight to the fridge to get something to drink. He thought back to the jogger from the other day, his words of a prophecy ringing through the Watcher’s head. After not finding any evidence, Giles had dismissed it as nothing more than nonsense. He had even reached out to some of the seedier parts of the Hellmouth, but no one could tell him anything that gave the jogger credit.

Giles looked at his Slayer when he felt her eyes on him, realizing that he had let the silence go on longer than needed. He was about to assure her that nothing was going on but caught himself at the fear in her eyes. She was genuinely afraid that there was some major reason behind the lack of activity in Sunnydale. And he couldn’t bring himself to blatantly lie when he honestly had no idea.

“I’ll look into it.” he promised as he went to join her in the small kitchen, pulling her in for a reassuring hug.

“Knew there was a reason I kept you around,” she teased as she leaned against him. “How was your evening?”

“The same as always.” He replied as he pulled back to look at her.

“So a whole lot of worrying about me?”

They shared a small laugh and he shook his head slightly.

“I’ll meet you upstairs.”

“You actually going to let me sleep tonight?”

Giles let out a bark laughter as he made his way up the stairs.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Giles let out a groan of frustration as he closed another book. He had decided to let Anya run the store for the day so he could put his complete attention on trying to figure out if there was something to Buffy’s concerns. And so far he had found nothing. From what he had read, there was no reason for the Hellmouth to be so inactive. It was frustrating to say the least. How could he help his Slayer if he couldn’t even find the cause of the unusual activity on the Hellmouth?

He ran his fingers through his hair before setting his glasses on the table, covering his face in his hands. A part of him was well aware that he was over reacting to his lack of knowledge, but another part of him was afraid that the information was staring him right in the face and he just wasn’t seeing it.

_“The prophecy will be fulfilled…”_

The words echoed in the Watcher’s head, almost in a taunting manner. Pair it with the increase of “lost” memories he was suddenly having, and his frustration just grew. 

_‘It’s just a coincidence.’_ the voice in his head told him, and he wanted to believe that to be true.

But there was never such a thing as coincidence on the Hellmouth. Too many things were happening and it felt like a puzzle; he just wasn’t smart enough to solve it.

“No, I just don’t have all the pieces.” He said to himself.

_‘If there even is anything to solve.’_

Giles scowled and stood up. What he was planning to do, he had no idea. He just knew that he couldn’t sit at his desk and send himself on this goose chase. A movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, his head quickly looking over towards his kitchen. He stared into the empty space for a moment before deciding that his mind was playing tricks on him again. He closed his eyes and took a breath, opening them just as he heard the   
front door open.

“Hey, Giles.” Willow smiled as she walked in.

His eyes flashed over to just over shoulder, half afraid he’d see Xander follow behind her. A small sigh of relief left him when he saw that she was alone. And judging by the look she gave him, it must have been noticeable.

“Buffy’s with Xander at the Magic Box.” She said as an explanation. “He didn’t want to be alone today.”

“Is it a bad day?” he asked softly.

“No. He’s just…he’s got a bad feeling and doesn’t want to be on his own.”

“What, um…what sort of bad feeling?”

There must have been something about his tone because Willow instantly looked at him, her eyes going wide in a sudden realization.

“Oh! No, nothing like that. He’s just seeing a lot of things and he isn’t sure if it’s his mind playing tricks on him or not.” She quickly said. “He just wants to be around Buffy and Anya in case it isn’t his mind. That way if what he’s seeing is bad he can warn them. But actually, today’s been a good day. He’s coming to better terms with being able to see…well, whatever it is he sees. Not all of it is hallucinations, really most of it is spirits or auras or…”

Despite his initial concern with Xander being left alone with Buffy, Giles found himself smiling Willow’s ramblings. And, of course, he was happy to hear that it seemed her and Xander were making some type of headway on his new abilities. His face fell at his own reminder that he had made no progress on his own research.

“Can I get you anything to drink, Willow?” he asked after a moment, wanting any reason to distract himself from the small mess that was his desk.

“No, thanks. I actually came over to see if you needed any help,” the redhead said as she looked at the desk. “Any rumblings going on in the Hellmouth?”

“None that I can find.” He quickly went about cleaning up the desk. “It’s very frustrating, to be honest.”

“Do you think there’s anything to Buffy not seeing any vamps lately?”

Giles ran his fingers through his hair and sighed, his shoulder giving a slight shrug. 

“I want to say yes, but I haven’t been able to find anything. It feels like all the pieces are there but nothing is pointing to the Hellmouth. In fact, most of them don’t even have anything in common with Sunnydale.” The Watcher said as he looked at the young woman.

“But they do have something in common?” she asked tentatively.

He swallowed as he thought about how to answer that. On the one hand, he knew it wasn’t fair to ask Willow to keep his worries from Buffy. But on the other, he needed to talk about it. Keeping his fears and paranoia bottled up wasn’t going to do him any good.

“I’m fairly certain I’m just being paranoid, but the few things that I’m concerned about seem to have…well, I seem to be the common factor.” He said after a moment. “I’ve been having dreams or…memories, I’m still not sure what they are. I keep seeing things and it seems as if people are staring at me like they know me. It’s almost as if there’s some plan unfolding and I’m in the middle of it, but I can’t find anything that says I’m justified in thinking this. Hell, I even feel like I’m being watched most of the time.”

“Have you told Buffy?” Willow asked, concern showing clearly in her eyes. “Because this sounds like something she should know about.”

“She has enough to worry about right now with whatever is going on with the vampires and demons,” he shook his head slightly. “I don’t need to worry her anymore.”

“Giles, if there is something to all of this and you don’t tell her…”

“What should I tell her? That I can’t find any proof that says what’s been going on is something that we can stop? Or how I’m not sure if I’m losing my mind finally?” there was a sense of defeat in his voice, but there was also a hint of anger building. “I’m not going to tell her anything when I’m not even sure what’s going on. Because if it is that fucking trail affecting me all the way out here…”

He trailed off when he noticed the small flinch Willow did. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. He opened his eyes again and gave her an apologetic smile.

“I’m sorry, Willow. I’m just…”

“Frustrated. I know,” she said with a reassuring look. “I’m just not used to you getting that worked up. But I still think you should tell Buffy about this. She could help or…or….or something. But she needs to know.”

“Until I know for sure what is going on, I can’t tell her. The last thing she needs to worry about is if her Watcher is having another breakdown.”

“You’re more than just her Watcher, Giles. You guys are dating. What happens to you affects her. Plus, you’re kind of all our best friend and we don’t want to see anything happen to you either.”

“If it doesn’t get better in two weeks, I’ll tell her.”

“A week.” She countered.

“A week and a half.”

“Giles, resolve face. A week you tell her.” Willow said as she looked at him.

After a moment, he relented and agreed. She dropped her resolve face and gave him a smile, walking over and giving him a brief comforting hug. She pulled back and looked up at him.

“Oh! Xander wanted me to tell you that there’s something important he wants to talk to you about.” She said.

“What about?” Giles asked, a small sense of fear building in his chest.

“He didn’t say, but he really wants to talk to you in person. But he understands if you only want to talk on the phone.”

“I’ll bring Buffy by and…”

“He said it has to be only you.” She cut him off.

Giles looked at her, his eyes narrowing. He had no idea why Xander would want to talk to him alone, or even make that request. Since being released from the hospital, there was a silent understanding between the Watcher and the young man that until further notice they would not be in the same room alone together. Even though Giles knew the actions on YellowBrickRoad weren’t in Xander’s control, there was still no way of knowing if the young man was completely rid of the Bad Man’s influence.

“I’ll, um…I’ll think about it.” He said softly.

“I’ll let him know.” Willow said with a small smile. “Do you want to get some lunch?”

He recognized Willow’s request for what it was; a way to change the subject and a way to get his mind off of what he had confessed to her. And he knew it was just what he needed.


End file.
